It was the
end of the road for a suspected armed robber and leader of a cult
group, who had been on the wanted list of the police for five years,
when he was shot dead in Anambra State last week.
The suspect, Chukwuezugo, alias Zion, who
was shot by a rival cult group in Obosi, Idemili LGA, was among
suspected criminals whose cases were announced during the parade of over
100 suspects arrested for armed robbery, child theft, cultism and human
trafficking by the Anambra State Police Command yesterday.
Addressing journalists at the command headquarters in Amawbia, Commissioner of Police, Garba Baba Umar, said the deceased’s accomplice,
Okagbue, alias Hajia, in whose shop he was murdered, had been arrested
and was now assisting the police with information that could lead to the
arrest of other accomplices.
Umar said the police got a distress call
over gunshots and promptly dispatched policemen to the area, where it
was discovered that the victim had been on the wanted list of the police
since 2012 for armed robbery, cultism and drug peddling.
Giving a breakdown of the successes recorded under a short period, the CP said one Oluchi, 24, was arrested on July 8, 2017, for stealing a two-month-old baby, in connivance with her friend, Nchedochi, 26.
Umar said the duo sold the baby to a woman, popularly known as First Lady, now at large.
The CP disclosed that the suspect, in
order to conceal her crime, reported to the police station under false
pretence that she left her baby in the custody of a woman, who absconded
with it.
He said exhibits recovered from the
principal suspect included N250,000 cash and one motorcycle that the
suspect allegedly bought with part of the money realised from the sale
of the baby.
In the same period, the police attached
to the Command Monitoring Unit, Awka, busted a child trafficking
syndicate, which allegedly conspired and trafficked one Ifeanyi Odili,
10, for N300,000.
Members of the syndicate nabbed by the police included Rev. Raymond, 60, Angela, 42, Obinigwe, 56, and Jacob, 56.
Also paraded were Ogechukwu, 24, who was
apprehended near Enamel bus stop, Okpoko, Awada, along the
Onitsha-Owerri road during a robbery. He claimed that other members of his gang escaped.
The CP said the suspects, on sighting the
police, opened fire and the police responded accordingly. One of the
suspects, who sustained gunshot wounds on his leg, was arrested, while
his accomplices escaped into the bush.
Exhibits recovered from the suspects include one cut-to-size single barrel gun, two live cartridges and charms.
Umar added that between June 26, 2017,
and now, the command has responded promptly to distress calls at various
locations across the state and foiled many robberies, which led to the
arrest of 15 other suspects and over 40 suspected cult members.
The CP called on members of the public to
refrain from covering their vehicle number plates, misuse of siren and
destruction of billboards and posters of perceived political rivals by
political thugs.
Meanwhile, Governor Willie Obiano has
charged police officers in the state to discharge their duties with
utmost dedication in order to maintain the status of the state as the
safest in Nigeria.
Obiano gave the charge at the police
headquarters when he made a surprise appearance when the police command
received the mobile police squad from MOPOL 27, Katsina, which was on a
working visit to the state. Obiano told the squad that the state, under his watch, had zero tolerance for cultism.
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